Axar Patel and skipper Rohit Sharma powered the Indian cricket team into the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a 68-run win over defending champions England in the semi-finals in Guyana on Thursday.
Axar ripped apart the England top-order with an excellent spell of 3/23 as the England cricket team was dismissed for 103 in pursuit of 172. Kuldeep Yadav was equally impressive picking up three wickets as India reached their first summit clash of the T20 World Cup in 10 years.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma top-scored in the match with a 39-ball 57 to guide India to 171/7 in their 20 overs. His knock included two sixes and six fours. Suryakumar Yadav made 47 off 36 balls while Chris Jordan registered figures of 3/37 in three overs.
Put into bat first at the Providence Stadium, India lost two early wickets but managed to reach 46/2 at the end of the powerplay. The rain delay made it difficult for India as they managed only 26 runs in the four overs after the restart.
But Rohit and Suryakumar, having completed their 50-run partnership, broke the shackles smashing 19 runs off the 13th over. Rohit brought up his fifty, his second in two matches, off 36 balls, before getting cleaned up by Adil Rashid.
Soon, Suryakumar also had to make his way back, three runs short of his third fifty in the T20 World Cup 2024, after miscuing a clever slower delivery from Jofra Archer. Valuable cameos from Hardik Pandya (23 off 13) and Ravindra Jadeja (17 off 9) helped India cross the 170-run mark.
For England, Chris Jordan picked up three wickets as Adil Rashid finished with figures of 1/25.
In reply, England skipper Jos Buttler completed 1000 runs in the T20 World Cup and then hit three boundaries in the third over to set the chase rolling. But Player of the Match Axar removed the dangerous Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, to reduce England to 39/3.
There was no respite for England as Axar and Kuldeep struck again with half the England side back in the pavilion within the ninth over. With wickets continuing to fall at regular intervals and the required rate also moving up, England found itself on the wrong side of the fence.
Harry Brook showed some resistance with a 19-ball 25, but he too fell as the defending champions folded out for 103 with 20 balls to spare. Apart from Axar, Kuldeep also came to the fore, with figures of 3/19 from four overs.
India will meet first-time finalist South Africa in the summit clash at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.
IND vs ENG T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals brief scores: India 171/7 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 57, Suryakumar Yadav 47, Chris Jordan 3/37, Adil Rashid 1/25) beat England 103/10 in 16.4 overs (Harry Brook 25, Jos Buttler 23, Kuldeep Yadav 3/19, Axar Patel 3/23) by 68 runs.
